Pennsylvania’s fracking boom is hurting its oldest residents
This story was originally published by Grist on November 6, 2023. (Pictured above: Mary Ellen McConnell stands over her kitchen table. Scott Cannon/Grist) In 1976, Mary Ellen McConnell, a “concrete city kid,” moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to the verdant hills and river valleys of Clearville, Pennsylvania. She fell in love with rural life and settled…
Read MoreHave this talk with your parents now to reduce heartache later
By Leqi Zhong Pictured above: Josie Adler, 80, molds a mask in a pottery class in Berkeley, California. She says she prefers to live life “one day at a time” and hasn’t spelled out a plan for her final years. This story was originally published by CNN on August 28, 2023. Berkeley, California CNN — In the…
Read MoreLack of transportation strands seniors in rural Kansas, a worsening problem as the country ages
Above: Floyd Coleman, right, helping Mark Daldegan inside Liberal Senior Center’s minivan outside of Dillons. By Andrew Lopez This story was originally published by KMUW Wichita Public Radio on August 9, 2023. Listen to the audio story here. Senior citizens who want to live in the same rural towns where they grew up face a…
Read More1970s-era ‘back-to-the-landers’ now aging in place together
by Ruth Dusseault (Pictured above: 82-year-olds Jane Lapiner (left) and David Simpson, formerly known as the Diggers. Ruth Dusseault) This story was originally published by NorCal Public Radio on August 4, 2023. In the early 1970s, tens of thousands of American youth left the cities in search of a new social order based on small,…
Read MoreAs worker shortages loom, some states move to train paid caregivers
States hope training standards will help attract and retain people to the industry’s entry-level jobs to help meet the exploding demand for care created by an aging population by Katie Rodriguez This story was originally published by The Washington Post on July 28, 2023. When Camran Hayes became a paid caregiver about five years ago,…
Read MoreAging farmers toil well past retirement, with no heirs or desire to leave land they’ve tended for decades
By Cara Nixon This story was originally published in The Oregonian on July 17, 2023. As distinct as the sight and smell of his grandparents’ Lake Oswego farm was, what Rick Cook carried with him was the sound. Every Christmas and Easter and during long summer stretches, the crunch of tires on gravel signaled that…
Read MoreWith 1 in 4 New Yorkers over 60, state seeks public’s help in master plan for surging senior population
By Ruth Dusseault This story was originally published by WAMC Northeast Public Radio on July 10, 2023. (Pictured above: SUNY Chancellor John King visits the Nursing Skills Lab at SUNY Plattsburgh, Pat Bradley/WAMC) Standing in a grocery store with a cart full of food, Diane Gotebiowski got a call from her 89-year-old father: “Your mother’s…
Read MorePets can make aging easier, but they’re expensive. CT volunteers are looking to help
Above: Cindy Tine is pictured in the living room of her Newington, Connecticut, home with her cat, Stevie, Saturday, May 6, 2023. Tine, who lives on disability income, benefits from the Senior Paw Project, which delivers cat food and litter to her for free. By Richard Tzul This story was originally published by Connecticut Public…
Read MoreOlder Adults in Sonoma County to Get Fire-Safety Home Retrofits — for Free
Pictured Above: Wildfire Services worker Brandon North stands behind his truck during a fire safety assessment in Occidental, Sonoma County, on March 13, 2023. (Isaac Ceja/KQED) By Kate Raphael This story was originally published in KQED on May 9, 2023. In August 2020, the Walbridge Fire was spreading dangerously close to Franceen Levy’s home in…
Read MoreMaking churches more welcoming for members with dementia: ‘ We don’t want them to think they’re forgotten.’
Pictured above: Annie Dixon and her daughter Tanya Dixon attend Sunday services at Peters Chapel in Columbus, Georgia, in April. Photo: Shereen Ragheb. By Celeste Hamilton Dennis This story was originally published in The Atlanta Journal Constitution on May 30, 2023. Annie Dixon has gone to Peters Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbus, Georgia,…
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